After 30 days into my challenge to build a stronger foundation for my life, I thought I’d pause for a checkup and see how it is going. Some of the habits are getting easier, but I am still struggling with most.
Like most of you, my schedule is different every day. Some days, exercising and reading in the morning works best and some days it works best in the evenings. It is difficult to develop a habit when it is not done at the same time every day. It is difficult, but not impossible.
The first part of my challenge was to read the Bible every day, specifically to read through Proverbs one chapter a day. I am on the last chapter of Proverbs today, so I am on schedule. However, there were a few days that I read two or three chapters to stay caught up. The habit of daily reading is not there, yet, but the accountability to you has helped me stay mostly on track. For next month, I plan to go through Proverbs again. There is so much in Proverbs. I consider it a great foundational book for living a Godly, happy, and prosperous life. My challenge for the next month is to not just read Proverbs one chapter a day, but to get a good Bible app and listen to one chapter a day. When we hear something, it is processed by a different part of the brain. Reading and listening together helps to increase comprehension.
Prayer is the second part of my foundation repair challenge. While my prayer life has improved, it has been far from daily and far from where I want it to be. For the second 30 days of the challenge, I will pray at least 15 minutes every day. I still find myself trying to figure out problems on my own instead of trusting God to lead me. Most of the problems are not actual problems. They are expectations that I have set on myself or problems that I have created myself. I sometimes will over-analyze a decision to the point that it is no longer trusting God, but only trusting myself to get it right. I cannot count the number of times I have agonized over a decision and spent days analyzing all the data and still not have a good solution. Then I take a few minutes to pray about it and within a day the solution presents itself. God is often just waiting for me to ask for help. Just like I will sometimes sit and watch my kids struggle with a project waiting for them to ask for help. I get excited when they finally ask for help and am always ready to help.
The third part of this challenge is my physical health. I have been exercising almost daily and have started back to jogging. I have started back to regular intermittent fasting and I am physically and mentally healthier than I was before I started this challenge. I am not as tired as I was and I am able to focus better on projects at work and home. I have more energy and just generally feel better. I’ve gone from walking to jogging and the exercises are getting easier. For the next 30 days, I will continue a focus on core exercises and continue increasing my jogging distance and speed.
Overall, the first 30 days have been a success for me. I am not as far along in my progress as I would like to be, but the goal of the first 30 days was not to see results, but to begin to establish healthy habits. I am excited to see where the next 30 days takes me as I continue to build on those habits. Most importantly, I am beginning to see more of life through the lens of “seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness” and rely more on God and less on me. I am a planner and I like to have my list of how I think everything should go, but God sometimes has other ideas.
Yay you! Keep up the good work!
Thank you. I’ve been enjoying writing. Glad somebody is reading it. 🙂